Yeo’s winning pre-game speech can’t prevent another loss
If the Flyers had nothing else in their half-century-plus as a hockey side, they had a winning culture.
Mike Yeo has come to the conclusion that it just might not have been a bad idea at that.
Exasperated by a roster stuffed with minor-league talents and shredded by injury, that’s about all the Flyers’ interim coach had left Tuesday as he prepared for a Wells Fargo Center visit from the Edmonton Oilers.
“It’s huge,” Yeo said. “I think you are a winner or a loser. I don’t want to say it that way, but you have to have that mindset and take pride in doing things that winners do, day in and day out.”
While unlikely to be retained as the head coach, Yeo has decided that a strong finish to an otherwise frustrating season will yield value to a sagging organization.
“I don’t think it would serve us any good whatsoever to mail in these games and develop bad habits, and to have that kind of attitude, that kind of character, and expect that things are going to be any different,” he said, “because that’s not the case. We have to develop that pride and that respect right now and carry that into next season with us.”
With that pep talk from Yeo, the Flyers promptly fell for the seventh time in eight games, 3-0, while barely mounting a challenge.
“I knew this was a game that was very winnable for us tonight,” Yeo said. “And we didn’t give our A-plus — I don’t want to say ‘effort’ — but we didn’t have A-plus execution, that’s for sure.”
Including a 51-second two-man advantage in the first period, the Flyers were 0-for-2 on the power play. Despite being under a swarm of Oilers throughout, Carter Hart allowed just two goals, one on a power play, and was solid.
“I think it was Bill Belichick who said, ‘Culture beats strategy every time,’” Yeo said. “We can talk about X’s and O’s and you can talk a little personnel. But there’s a reason why certain teams win year after year. And we have to keep working to become one of those teams, to have pride in the little things and pride in being a winner.”
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With his willingness to risk bruises, both on a fourth line and as a penalty-killer, Patrick Brown has been one of few Flyers to have made something out of an otherwise lost season.
“I think that’s a big part of my game,” Brown said Tuesday. “I think it’s a big part of our team’s game. You’ve got to sacrifice your body to win games.”
Brown was claimed off waivers from Vegas in October,
then was limited to 23 games this season due to knee difficulties. But he would play in a fourth consecutive game Tuesday, centering a line with Issac Ratcliffe and Zack MacEwen.
With defensive-conscious Sean Couturier, among others, out for the season, Brown has been willing to assume some of that load on the penaltykill. He was particularly willing to dive in front of shots in a 2-1 victory Saturday over visiting Washington.
“I think our PK has been pretty good,” he said. “I think we are doing a good job on our triggers, hunting down pucks. I think when we see that they’re bobbling the puck that we’ve been able to go and get it quickly.”
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Ryan Ellis, who has played just four games all season due to a lower body injury, is not inspiring much confidence that he will play again this season.
“Obviously we’re getting to the point where it’s looking less likely,” Yeo said.
“Nothing has been fully determined yet.”
Ellis, 31, was acquired from Nashville in the offseason deal involving Nolan Patrick and is signed through 2027. But by Tuesday, he sounded so far from the Flyers’ plans that Yeo seemed bored with the topic.
“I don’t even know if he skated the past few days,” Yeo said. “I wouldn’t even call it skating. He’s certainly not pushing himself to a point where we think there’s a possibility that he can return at any point here.”